Omega-3 Fish Oil: a winner for the hearts and minds of young and old.

Omega-3 Fish Oil with DHA & EPA is a high-potency
formulation of the two omega-3 fatty acids considered most valuable as
supplements.
It is sold as a liquid to be taken with a spoon, rather than as
a jar of huge softgels, so that it can be used by children
and adults of all ages and conditions.

Omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), belong to the class of nutrients
called ‘essential fatty acids’. These substances are essential
for neurological development and for normal brain function
in adults, and they have significant influences on the function
of arteries, veins, bones and joints.

Deficiencies of these fatty acids can cause difficulties with learning, thinking, and memory, and can exacerbate problems
in the joints and cardiovascular system.

Recent studies of oral supplementation with DHA and EPA support of a variety of medical uses:

The omega-3 fatty acids are extremely safe to use, even in multi-gram amounts. For example, DHA has been studied in clinical
trials at a consumption level of up to 7.5 grams/day without any sign of adverse effects.

Read Omega-3 Fish Oil Monograph

Omega-3 Fish Oil with DHA & EPA is a high-potency formulation of the two omega-3 fatty acids considered most valuable as supplements. It is sold as a liquid to be taken with a spoon, rather than as a jar of softgels, so that it can be used by children and adults of all ages and conditions. Recent research has shown that omega-3 supplements need to be taken in substantial amounts in order to reap their most important benefits, and it is inconvenient, dangerous, or even impossible for many people to swallow the number or size of softgels that would be required to achieve these optimum dosages.What is so special about omega-3 fatty acids?

Omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), belong to the class of nutrients called ‘essential fatty acids’. These substances, found in abundance in cold-water fish, are essential for neurological development and for normal brain function in adults, and they have significant influences on the function of arteries, veins, bones and joints.

Deficiencies of these fatty acids can cause difficulties with learning, thinking, and memory, and can exacerbate problems in the joints and cardiovascular system. Correlations have been shown between low omega-3 levels and a fairly wide variety of ailments,1 and the list grows longer as more effort goes into exploring these substances.

Why do omega-3 fatty acids have far-ranging effects in the body? One might think that a specific, small family of substances would have a limited range of effects and might therefore have applications for only a few closely-related ailments. But it is not so. The reason for their broad effects is that they influence certain fundamental characteristics of all kinds of cells: namely, the physical properties of the cell membranes and the activities of molecular communication assemblies that float in these membranes.2,3

Because the omega-3 fatty acids operate at a fundamental biological level and have shown benefits in a variety of medical contexts, they have become a very “hot” research topic in recent years. In the ten years from 2000 to 2009, for example, about 5100 medical articles dealt with DHA in some way; during the previous 50 years only about 4000 dealt with DHA. With so much attention being focused on the omega-3s, it is not surprising that some very interesting results are turning up, which will be summarized below. But first, we must present this disclaimer necessitated by the behavior of certain government bureaucracies:What we can’t tell you

In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over supplement users and their suppliers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.

Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of Omega-3 Fish Oil to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.

Recent studies of oral supplementation with DHA and EPA have provided evidence in support of a variety of medical uses:

inhibiting growth and spread of cancers of the prostate25,26 and breast27

improving attention and accuracy, reducing reaction time28

ameliorating asthmatic symptoms22

protecting skin against sunburn damage29

Omega-3 supplements and cardiovascular disease

The prevention of cardiovascular disease is one of the two applications of omega-3 fatty acids receiving the most attention from medical researchers. Atherosclerosis — the buildup of hard plaques in the arteries — is the major target.

In a short review of clinical trials concerning the cardiovascular benefits of omega-3, researchers at Charles University in Prague concluded that “... the current evidence is sufficient to encourage intake of 500 and 1000 mg of EPA/DHA daily in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, respectively.”30 They also suggest 3000-4000 mg/day for correcting blood triglyceride levels.

Atrial fibrillation is a type of heartbeat arrhythmia characterized by an extremely fast irregular rhythm. A study conducted at the University of Kuopio analyzed omega-3 concentrations in the blood of 2174 Finnish men and concluded that higher omega-3 consumption was correlated with a lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation. DHA had a greater impact than the other omega-3s.31

HIV patients often have low HDL and high triglyceride levels — a situation that greatly raises the risk of cardiovascular problems. A study at Tufts University in Boston has shown that high doses of omega-3s (6 g/day) dramatically lower these triglycerides.32

In patients with chronic kidney disease, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation (at 4000 mg/day) + CoQ (200 mg/day) reduced triglycerides 24%, and reduced blood pressure and heart rate — as shown in a clinical trial at the University of Western Australia.33

Another study of omega-3s and blood lipids, this one conducted at the University of Guelph, Canada, showed that a mixture of 4 g EPA+DHA plus 2 g gamma-linolenic acid favorably altered blood lipid and fatty acid profiles in healthy women in 28 days. The treatment group was estimated to have a 43% reduction in the 10-year risk of heart attack.4Omega-3 supplements and neurological function

This is the area of application where the omega-3s really shine. They promote the maintenance of nerve cells, the efficiency of transmission of information along nerve fibers, and the ability of collections of nerve cells to process information. Indirectly they improve one’s mood, vision, ability to concentrate and solve problems, and the ability to learn, remember, and recall.

It appears that the influence of omega-3s on neurological function is explained by their effects on the membranes of nerve cells. Studies of DHA, for example, suggest that DHA maintains the fluidity of membranes on the surface of nerve cells34 — and presumably of interior membranes, as well. This, in turn, allows the proper functioning of various molecular assemblies that reside in these membranes.

These molecular assemblies are the cells’ communication interface — some of them enable cells to receive signals that inform cells about what is happening near and far; others give cells the means to influence their environment. Inadequate amounts of omega-3 fatty in a cell’s membranes cause this communication interface to perform poorly.

Preclinical studies suggest that DHA improves the function of the structures that transmit information from one nerve cell to another — i.e., the synapses and neurotransmitters. DHA thereby enhances learning and memory performance.34

DHA and other omega-3s also protect nerve cells from certain damaging influences — several epidemiological studies support the association between omega-3 consumption and a lower prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia, including senility.34

Mood. An association between omega-3 consumption and lower rates of depression was found in numerous observational and experimental studies on populations affected by major depression, depressed mood, or post-partum depression.35

Vision. The ability of omega-3 fatty acids to optimize the function of nerve cell membranes has ramifications for vision since the eyes contain a variety of specialized nerve cells. Adequate levels of these fatty acids are essential not only for maintenance of optimum vision, but also for the development of good vision in infants. Recent studies have shown that it is crucial for weaned infants to receive omega-3s in their formula:

At the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas, USA, a clinical study involving 343 formula-fed infants showed that DHA supplementation of infant formula at 0.32% of total fatty acids significantly improves visual acuity.36

In another clinical study conducted by the same research group, 65 infants were fed either a formula supplemented with DHA or an unsupplemented, but otherwise identical, formula. The study lasted from week 7 to week 52 of the infants’ lives. It was found that “infants who were weaned to formula that did not provide LCPs [i.e., DHA] had significantly poorer visual acuity at 17, 26, and 52 wk of age and significantly poorer stereoacuity at 17 wk of age than did infants who were weaned to ... supplemented formula. Better acuity and stereoacuity at 17 wk was correlated with higher concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid in plasma. Better acuity at 52 wk was correlated with higher concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid in plasma and red blood cells.”37

Similar results have been seen in other studies of infants.19

The loss of visual acuity with aging is also subject to intervention by omega-3 supplementation. Age-Related Macular Degeneration is a well-known example of such visual loss. A study conducted by the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, USA, found that the 12-year incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration was lowest for those reporting the highest consumption of omega-3 fatty acids.38

Alzheimers, senility. If one graphs the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease as a function of age 39 it becomes immediately clear that virtually everyone will develop Alzheimer’s if they live long enough — some will show symptoms at a younger age than others, but in the long run all are doomed to become demented. Why? Because evolution did not provide our brains with a mechanism for removing the destructive protein plaques that accumulate within nerve tissue.

No doubt we will escape this fate through technological intervention. The means to do so is not yet available, but a means to buy some time by slowing down Alzheimer’s progression is already available: omega-3 fatty acids. Here are some highlights:

Experiments at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, USA, found that a 3-month DHA-enriched diet reduced plaque formation in the brains of Alzheimer’s-prone mice. The conclusion of the experimenters: “Our findings support the concept that increased DHA consumption may play an important role in reducing brain insults in female AD patients.”41

At the Universidad de Oviedo, Spain, a study of the association between diet and cognitive function showed that consumption of EPA and DHA were negatively correlated with the score on cognition tests.40 The researchers remark that “consumption of EPA and DHA should be encouraged for reducing the risk of cognitive impairment and subsequently disability in elderly people.”40

Should one wait until Alzheimer’s symptoms appear before starting fish oil supplements to counteract the disease? Definitely not! As stated in a 2009 review of the subject: “Results to-date suggest that DHA may be more effective if it is begun early or used in conjunction with antioxidants.”42

Why does DHA reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s symptoms? One plausible explanation is that the incorporation of DHA into nerve cell membranes reduces inflammation in the brain.43 Inflammation causes tissue distortion and the production of destructive free radicals that kill nerve cells.

Learning, memory, and attention. From the fact that omega-3 fatty acids can significantly improve the functioning of nerve cells it is easy to predict that they will have effects on cognition, as well. And indeed, this prediction is born out by research.

In a review of neuro-effects of omega-3s, researchers at the Centre Hopitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, France, state that DHA “maintains membrane fluidity, improves synaptic and neurotransmitter functioning, enhances learning and memory performances and displays neuroprotective properties. ... DHA exerts beneficial effects on cognitive function with ageing.”34

One of the most important applications of omega-3 fatty acids is in promoting the cognitive development of children. All prospective parents should be made aware of the need for omega-3 supplementation during and after pregnancy. Researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway, put it this way: “Maternal intake of very-long-chain [omega-3 fatty acids] during pregnancy and lactation may be favorable for later mental development of children.”17

A clinical study of omega-3 intake and neurodevelopment was carried out at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA using 44 infants as subjects. Subgroups were fed formulas differing in omega-3 content, starting in early infancy. At 12 months of age, the group that had been fed the formula with the lowest omega-3 content had the lowest mean score on every neurodevelopmental measure.18

Researchers at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, USA, studied the effects of omega-3 supplementation on the problem-solving ability of babies. The subjects were 229 infants who were fed experimental formulas from age 7 weeks to 52 weeks. The supplemented children “had more intentional solutions (successful task completions) and higher intention scores (goal-directed behaviors) than controls. These results suggest that [long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid] supplementation improves means-end problem solving.”44

To put it bluntly, parents who fail to provide their children with adequate omega-3 fatty acids are stunting their children's intelligence.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation also appears to have positive effects on memory. A clinical trial that tested the effects of 900 mg/day of DHA on verbal recognition memory indicated “improved learning and episodic memory functions.”45

How long does it take for omega-3 supplementation to affect learning ability? According to researchers Sun-Young Lim and Hiramitsu Suzuki at the National Food Research Institute, Japan, it may take a couple of weeks after the incorporation of DHA into the brain for improvement in learning ability to occur.46

Omega-3 supplementation also improves attentional and physiological functions, especially those that require complex information processing in the cerebral cortex.28 Disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism are often associated with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the body.47Asthma, gum disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Fish oil down-regulates one of the body’s immunity subsystems: the “T-helper 1-type response” which is associated with chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. A review in the British Journal of Nutrition summarizes the situation like this: “There is evidence for beneficial effects of fish oil in such diseases; this evidence is strongest for rheumatoid arthritis. Recent evidence indicates that fish oil may be of benefit in some asthmatics but not others.”22

In a review of the use of fish oil by asthmatic athletes, researchers at Indiana University, USA, report that “3 weeks of fish oil supplementation, rich in EPA and DHA, reduces exercise-induced airway narrowing, airway inflammation, and bronchodilator use in elite athletes and asthmatic individuals with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction.”48

Gum disease is another inflammatory illness. It has been found that the risk of periodontal disease in older people is lower for people who consume larger amounts of DHA.49

Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are examples. Research at the University of Bologna, Italy, has shown that DHA inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in these diseases.50Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, and other chronic diseases

Since omega-3 fatty acids are both anti-inflammatory and cell membrane enhancing, it should be no surprise to find that they have benefits for many chronic diseases.

A 2010 study of Eskimos, who have very high DHA-EPA consumption, reports a lower risk for chronic diseases in general.51

Evidence from animal and human research shows that omega-3 depletion plays a causal role in several inflammatory, autoimmune and neuropsychiatric disorders.35 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is one such disorder.

A study conducted at the Clinical Research Center for Mental Health, Antwerp, measured omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in 22 CFS patients and 12 normal controls. It was found that the omega3/omega6 ratio was negatively correlated to the severity of illness and to aches, pain, fatigue, and failing memory. The investigators suggest that “patients with CFS should respond favorably to treatment with ... EPA and DHA.”15

A report from Hammersmith Hospital, London, discusses a female patient with a 6-year history of unremitting symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She was given a daily supplement rich in EPA which “led to a marked clinical improvement in her symptoms ... starting within 6-8 weeks.16Omega-3 supplements and cancer

The association between omega-3 fatty acid consumption and reduced cancer risk has been seen in some studies of fish consumption25, and it has also been seen in studies of omega-3 supplements to treat cancers. It has been found that omega-6 fatty acids can reduce the benefits of the omega-3s, and actually promote cancer growth. Most of the clinical work has been done in lab animals.

The contrast between the actions of omega-6 as compared with those of the omega-3s was vividly shown in mouse experiments: Mice were injected with human prostate cancer cells and then fed diets high in omega-6 fatty acids; the cells quickly grew into tumors. Changing the diet from high omega-6 to high omega-3 dramatically reduced the growth of these tumors within 5 weeks and caused an increase in the rate of self-destruction of the tumor cells.26

EPA may also be useful as an adjunct to chemotherapy, since it activates some of the body’s own anti-oxidant defenses against the destructive effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on healthy tissue.52 Furthermore, it has been observed that when cell membranes are enriched with DHA, breast cancer tumor cells can be made more sensitive to chemotherapy than non-tumor cells.53 DHA appears to slow the proliferation of breast tumor cells, and to reduce their ability to migrate and form new tumors.27

While certain other supplements (such as vitamin D3, to name just one) have greater anti-cancer effects than omega-3 fatty acids do, the omega-3s do appear to be worth using as part of a broader cancer therapy.Omega-3 supplements and aging

Human aging is caused by a number of processes, none of them inherently necessary, but all of them the result of the unguided nature of evolution. One of these processes is called “telomere shortening”.

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that occur at the ends of the chromosomes — i.e., at the ends of the 46 DNA strands that make up the human genome. When a cell divides during the development of the body, or during the routine replacement of damaged tissue, the DNA of the parent cell has to be duplicated so that the daughter cells will have their own copies of the genome.

Unfortunately, the duplication process is flawed — the ends of the chromosomes are shortened a little bit with each cell division. Although the ends of the chromosomes start out with long repetitive DNA sequences that carry no genetic information, as these “telomeres” shorten again and again with successive cell divisions, they eventually are lost and the chromosomes become damaged. What appears at the molecular level to be chromosomal damage appears to the eye as increasing decrepitude of the body.

Anti-aging research focuses, among other things, on methods for preventing or reversing telomere shortening. Oddly enough, it appears that omega-3 fatty acids may have a role to play in achieving this goal.

A research group at San Francisco General Hospital reported in 2010 that in patients with coronary artery disease, there is an inverse relationship between baseline blood levels of marine omega-3 fatty acids and the rate of telomere shortening over 5 years.54 It appears that a 3-fold increase in omega-3 levels corresponded to a 62% reduction in the rate of telomere shortening. This remarkable discovery is reason enough to take fish oil supplements religiously! If telomere shortening were the sole cause of aging we’d be dancing in the streets; unfortunately there are several other, quite unrelated causes as well.Omega-3 supplements and diabetes

DHA’s anti-inflammatory effects make it useful agent for combatting the debilitating symptoms of diabetes, many of which appear to derive from inflammation.

For example, inflammatory substances (cytokines) generated in abnormal amounts are responsible for diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina). DHA has been shown to reduce the damage to retinal cells under these conditions.55

Metabolic syndrome is a combination of factors that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A 2009 clinical study at the Avicenna Research Institute in Iran determined that omega-3 fatty acids “improve the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects with metabolic syndrome, having effects on weight, systolic blood pressure, lipid profile and markers of inflammation and autoimmunity.”57Bones, joints, arthritis, and osteoporosis in humans and dogs

In animal studies a positive correlation has been shown between fatty acid consumption profiles and bone health. Higher ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids is associated with beneficial effects on bones.58

In a clinical study at Kansas State University 127 dogs with osteoarthritis were fed either ordinary dog food or an experimental food rich in omega-3 fatty acids. According to the dogs’ owners, “dogs fed the test food had a significantly improved ability to rise from a resting position and play at 6 weeks and improved ability to walk at 12 and 24 weeks, compared with control dogs.”59

Another, similar study provided quantitative measures of arthritic dogs’ performance with and without omega-3 supplementation.”Improvement in peak vertical force values was evident in 82% of the dogs in the test-food group, compared with 38% of the dogs in the control-food group.”60

Omega-3s have similar benefits in humans, too. A supplement containing fish oil + vitamin E + nettle extract was tested at the University of Bordeaux in a clinical trial involving 81 patients with OA of the knee or hip. Those using the test formula “appeared to decrease the need for analgesics and NSAIDs and improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis.”61

Omega-3 fatty acids are showing an impact on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, as well — most likely because they inhibit production of inflammatory cytokines. According to recent reviews of this subject:

“Epidemiological studies suggest that fish intake may be preventive for [rheumatoid arthritis] and double-blind placebo-controlled studies demonstrate that dietary fish oil can alleviate the signs and symptoms of RA.”23

Visceral fat is the fat within the body cavity that surrounds the internal organs. When there is too much of it, or it becomes enlarged, it produces a bulging belly even when the bearer has dieted or exercised away the subcutaneous (“pinchable”) fat just underneath the skin. Visceral fat can be more resistant to dieting and exercise than is subcutaneous fat and is therefore extremely frustrating to persons who are trying to look and feel fit. Excess visceral fat is a mark of “metabolic syndrome” and carries a high risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.62

Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids can improve blood lipid profiles which in turn can help to reduce visceral fat. A clinical trial at the University of Western Australia, for example showed that fish oils effectively lower the plasma concentration of triacylglycerols by 18% in viscerally obese men and “may therefore constitute a potentially effective treatment for obesity-related dyslipidemia.”8

Researchers at the University of Litoral, Argentina, suggest that enlarged visceral fat deposits may result from an increase of several key enzymes. In rat experiments they showed that the addition of fish oil to the diet reduced the production of these enzymes.6DNA damage

As is well known, exposure of the skin to ultraviolet light causes damage to DNA in skin cells and increases the likelihood of skin cancer. A clinical study at the University of Manchester, UK, showed a substantial reduction in sunburn and DNA damage markers in subjects who were consuming 4 grams/day of omega-3 fatty acids as compared with those who weren’t.29Safety

The omega-3 fatty acids are extremely safe to use, even in multi-gram amounts. For example, DHA has been studied in clinical trials at a consumption level of up to 7.5 grams/day without any sign of adverse effects.63Reviews

We recommend the following good reviews:

A review of the use of DHA as a supplement, by Thorne Research.64

A semi-technical tutorial about unsaturated fatty acids, by William Christie of the Scottish Crop Research Institute.65

A review of the use of omega-3 fatty acids to treat neurological conditions, by Parris M. Kidd of Thorne Research.3

Conclusion

Is Omega-3 Fish Oil with DHA & EPA useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.